Yes, I'm back on my regressive May bullshit once again for another year. I have another four RPGs lined up for this year's May Millennials feature, though for the first time I'm also incorporating console games available on the PlayStation 3: after all, even if its online store was granted a stay of execution, there's no telling how long it has left or how long I feel like keeping this curvy chonker hooked up to my TV. Now, you might think the first of these May Millennial candidates for this year - Tales of Graces F, the twelfth flagship entry in Bandai Namco's expansive Tales RPG franchise - would be disqualified because it's a 2012 game, or a 2010 game if we go by its Japanese debut. That's why I'm counting its original, original pre-"F" release: December 10, 2009 for the Nintendo Wii. How's that for a technicality?

From what I've garnered about its reputation from those in the know, Graces F is renowned for its combat system, which polishes LMBS to a fine sheen with various enhancements and mechanical complexity while also making it more accessible and easier to fine-tune to the player's preferences. Conversely, Graces F is notorious for its poor storytelling, characters, and overall presentation. I have yet to see the full context for either to judge for myself, after having only just completed the game's childhood prologue, but I hope to be knee-deep in both the great combat and the humorously lousy story in the coming week. I did still wrangle together enough observations for this Intro blog, though sadly I can't entertain you all with a long list of screenshots of anime kids in peril; it's been so long that I forgot that PS3s don't have the sharing functionality.

I don't feel like the usual screed on how Tales functions in general. It feels like something I've written several times - this certainly isn't the first Tales game I've played since I started blogging here - but I can summarize it as being a series of action-RPGs that are heavy on real-time combat mechanics and relatively breezy and formulaic when it comes to everything else. Even so, and excepting all the as-yet-unintroduced features that await the grown-up versions of these characters, Tales of Graces F has already thrown a lot my way that I'm required to memorize. I'll just go through a few of these notable features in a bulletpoint list, and then circle back around to my early impressions of the story and characters so far:

• The character skill system has been reformatted to accommodate titles, which I think is a first for this series (of the ones that have been localized, at least). Titles are Tales mainstays that usually don't have a whole lot of bearing on gameplay: they're just little accolades you can attach to your character, like tags on a Call of Duty multiplayer account. They can reflect where the characterization is at that moment in the story (say, if you just learned your companion is a prince after a story cutscene, maybe he'll earn the "Actually a Prince" title), goofy nicknames earned from side-quests or skits, bragging rights earned from combat milestones or mini-game completions, and so on. However, in Graces F, each title also carries with it five upgrades to unlock: these might improve stats, upgrade your artes (combat abilities and spells), unlock whole new artes, or provide some other potentially vital passive boost. Now it's actually worth seeking out all those minor achievements and milestones if it means substantial character development will result.
• Combat is much more geared towards tactical blocking and evasive moves as both of those refill and boosts your CC, or Chain Capacity. This CC system replaces TP - a vague mana equivalent that powered artes but would quickly run dry - and is closer to a system that Zestiria and Berseria would eventually embrace in that you have a limited number of these points to spend to chain arte combos together, but what little stock you have regenerates very quickly once you stop attacking. That means your fighting style will be closer to "arte-chain, block, arte-chain, back-step" rather than spamming basic attacks against rando mobs to conserve TP for tougher battles; the net result of this change adds to the versatility and utility of artes without letting you mash out your strongest moves for easy wins. In Graces F, befitting its name, combat is more of a tango of offense and defense and CC is designed to help time your dance steps. It seems there are ways to boost the CC maximum further, either by finding better weapons or earning upgrades through the above title skill system, so I'm sure it'll be a format that will continue to grow on me as it evolves.
• Combat also has tech bonuses, which are little boosts to your earnings - either XP for levels, gald for spending, or SP which unlocks new title skills - contingent on completing a specific goal in combat. In most fights, these tech bonuses are open-ended: you can go for any one of them, from not getting hit to concluding the fight quickly. The next fight then isolates the tech bonus you received last time and challenges you with a harder version: if you beat the fight within 20 seconds last time, you have to beat it within 15 this time. These harder challenges carry larger bonuses, making them worth pursuing. Keeping up a combo of these ever tougher tech bonuses seems important to getting the most out of battles though it will eventually prove too challenging to maintain. Useful for earning something even from weaker mobs, since tech bonuses will be that much easier to proc when fighting them.

Anyway, that's just a handful of the intriguing combat mechanics I've encountered so far. The game looks to get much more complex once I hit adulthood and have a bigger range of artes to chain together and new features to unlock, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the "main" game has in store. As for the characters...

...Well, I mean kids are basically intolerable in video games already, so maybe I'll give Graces F a break and reserve judgment until I've spent time with their adult versions. So far we have: the usual brash and reckless protagonist Asbel with a near suicidal aversion to doing what he's told; his timid and bookish brother Hubert (tough break with that name, kid) who has already pissed his pants once; the sickly and sweet and sickly sweet Cheria who hasn't done much but cough and complain so far; the sheltered not-so-secret royal Richard who I'm only guessing will somehow grow up to be an asshole; and the mysterious amnesiac acrobatic warrior maiden Sophie which the party named after a flower invented for the game because there are no extant girl's names based on real flowers I guess. The last member of that cast fills the role of enigmatic waif to the letter - very much the Meredy or Tear Grants of this game, or perhaps the Aerith Gainsborough (more so since she apparently bought the farm before the end of the first act, though I'm sure that won't stick if she's on the box art).

The first few hours reminded me of Vandal Hearts II, of all games: an idyllic childhood prologue torn asunder by a moment of tragedy, scattering a once firm unit of childhood friends to the four winds. We'll see how much their characterizations have improved in their late teens (I'm guessing not very) when we come back with an Outro blog later this week. So far, though? Cautiously optimistic about this one. Its story has certainly left a better early impression than Zestiria or Symphonia 2, though it'd be hard for anything beyond an urgent looking letter from the hospital to out-awful the latter.

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